Tropical Depression 2

[ReefHound]

Sorry, I didn't mean that as a challenge, just a question. I hope the branches you were trimming were near 240/120V supply lines rather than medium voltage (~12kV) distribution lines. Years ago I knew a guy who had both arms burned off at the elbows trimming branches around MV wires.

I would never trim a tree myself. Tree trimmers did the work. The lines are in the backyard above the fence with neighbors on the next street so I'm assuming they are just a street branch.

 

[ggunn]

As climate change worsens and these storms get more and more expensive for them, they may choose to redo that calculation. We'll see.

Dr. Michael Webber agrees:
Opinion | Texas’ power grid wasn’t made for the rapid succession of storms it sees now

I have known Dr. Webber for 15 years; he is a really smart guy and he knows what he is talking about.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Great article. That last part, though.. "Regulators and rate payers often balk when rates go up to invest in a better system. So, we usually don’t spend the money and we stick with a fragile system that can fail." He stops short of saying why.

Rate payers balk because the rates go up and their service doesn't improve, or even gets worse. Those rate increases are paying stupidly high CEO salaries and executive bonuses and that's why people are pissed and don't want to give them any more money. Texas certainly isn't the only guilty party there, though. California and Hawai'i are two other recent high profile examples of deferred maintenance that got people killed, while profits lined pockets.